Trying to exceed a customer’s expectations does not drive loyalty. Ensuring customer satisfaction does not drive loyalty. Exceeding expectation is rare, only 16% of the time, and expensive, increasing operating costs by 10% to 20%. More customer service interactions increase the odds of driving disloyalty.

There is one big “gotcha” though – a negative customer experience is 65% more likely to drive negative Word of Mouth, while a great customer experience is only 25% more likely to drive positive Word of Mouth.

Please include attribution to alleecreative.com with this graphic.

So what does all this mean?

It means that you should make your customer interactions as simple, quick and seamless as possible. You definitely don’t want customers to walk out feeling like they have been badly treated…but once you meet the hurdle of satisfactory customer service, don’t make any more investments there. Make sure you maintain that level everywhere and make your investments in ensuring that all customer interactions are as simple, quick and few as are required to deliver whatever service is required.